Hawai'i was good. Lot's of quality Mommy time, which is what I wanted. And I got to hug her lots. Which was good. She really seems to be doing well physically and all so that's great. I think it's still hard for her to grasp that she had a heart attack. Which makes sense. It's hard for me to grasp that as well and I didn't have one.
Didn't do too many wildly exciting things. Lots of TV watching and all. We did head to Waikiki on the 15th. Dad was flying the island hopper from Guam to Honolulu so he got a hotel room in Waikiki for his layover. So we headed down, checked into the hotel and then went out into the heat and the tourists. We headed over to The Cheesecake Factory as it seemed appropriately touristy. Ed's Shirt was a bit snobby about it, but you know how that pesky shirt is. We ordered the appetizer sampler AND entrees not realizing how much food came in the sampler. So dinner pretty much got wrapped up to go. Dad and I also got big ole fruity drinks. Well, I did. He got a margarita. But it was big. And lime was involved. So it's kind of like a big ole fruity drink. Whatever. Shut up.
After dinner we waddled around a little bit checking out the stores and the tourists and all. We took Mom back to the room so she could stay glued to CNN and all the Hurricane Ivan coverage while Dad and I went back out for more shopping. I had lots of requests for purchases like a grass skirt and mac nuts and things. But as I learned, there's a mac nut shortage or some such silliness. So I couldn't find ANY maui onion nuts or kona glazed. So weird. And disappointing. But Dad and I got a good walk in (after eating twice my weight in appetizers (and I'm a big girl!)) and amused ourselves with tourists and all. Waikiki is so odd to me now. I hung out there some in high school with friends. We'd buy crap jewelry in the International Marketplace, make fun of tourists, see movies, wander around on the beach and giggle when guys from Fort DeRussy hit on us. Good times. But now they've made it more upscale and touristy than before. Lots of fancy high end stores have moved in. The movie theaters are gone. It doesn't quite seem the same to me. I am a dork. Ah well.
Thursday morning Dad and I got up and went for a walk around Kapiolani Park. It was nice but he mocked me for my slow pace. He's been lapping the park for a few weeks now and I am hopelessly out of shape. I made it, though. After that I hit the beach for a little while. But I'd forgotten how rocky Waikiki is and how much I hate tourists when I want to be quiet and alone with the sun, sand and book (The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay right now). So I packed it in after a little bit and headed home with the rents.
That night we headed to Chiang Mai, which I love. And a fun last night (or so I thought) with both folks as Dad had to head back to Guam ridiculously early on Friday. Friday morning, Mom and I went out to Bellows and had a lovely time. It's a gorgeous beach with soft sand and trees and a breeze and a beautiful view and all that. It's Mom's favorite beach so it wasn't too hard to convince her to drive out. She got to read, I got some sun and swimming in and all was right with the world. Then that night I got to see Jello Girl for the first time in forever. Last year she was in New York the exact days I was in Hawai'i. Mean of her if you ask me. So she popped by to say hi to Mom and then we headed off to Verbano's for dinner and chatting and all. It was so nice to catch up on everyone and each other and to also just sit and chat about all sorts of things. I'm looking forward to seeing her again at Christmas. She promises me she's not going anywhere. And there was talk of an awesome Tiki Bar. We'll see.
Saturday was just mellow time. Errands and hanging out and doing laundry and watching TV and all in prep for me heading out on Sunday. Which didn't happen. The flights were suddenly all packed out of Honolulu. And loads of standby passengers were all trying to get out as well. So, I missed all the flight options and had to inform work I would not be there on Monday. Luckily they decided not to fire me so that was a win-win. Monday looked bad as well and the folks and I (Dad got back Monday morning) thought we'd have a nice little picnic after I missed the 3:35PM Newark flight. They even bought me treats and everything. But, miracle of miracles, I got on the flight.
I was stuck in a middle seat. Not fun. But at least I was on. And ended up with a nice person next to me. He started off on the phone bitching about how his friend was supposed to be sitting next to him but then his friend decided to switch seats and get an aisle seat. So it didn't seem promising. But then I pulled out How to Make Love Like a Porn Star with Jenna's boobs all hanging out in a photo and he became very friendly. Heh. He let me put all my stuff on his tray when I wanted to root around in my bags, he got a breakfast for me while I was dozing and held it on his tray until I woke up towards the end of the flight. He recommended a book he was reading. Chatted about Jenna, life, all that. Made it much easier to be squeezed into the middle seat. And no, for those of you like Muffy and Steph who have dirty minds, I did not have sweaty airport sex with him. Some people just belong in the gutter.
So, landed at 7AM, hopped on all my various trains and got to work. Where I actually did work. It was odd. Then, off to meet Vader and Taylor so we could go to TARCON 5 at Play by Play at the Garden. The website I love, Television Without Pity, has forums for all the shows they recap. And back in season one, lots of New Yorkers from The Amazing Race forums (as well as the recapper I think?) decided to gather at a bar to watch the finale. The racers ended up showing up after the CBS finale party and since then it's ballooned into this huge event. Vader went last year, but I've never been. I love the show and Dad and I plan to be on it one day. So I figured it was time to attend a TARCON. And I did have fun. But it was, um, interesting. It seemed a little cliquey to me at first. I felt like there was a bit of an attitude of superiority for the folks who posted on the forums a lot and have been to lots of TARCONs and all. And the goodie back table had a LOT of snottiness. I don't post on the forums a lot because I just don't have the time. But I bought my TARCON ticket like everyone and even contributed to the goodie bag fun financially since I couldn't give the time. And the woman manning the goodie bag table just didn't want to give me a goodie bag. I wasn't worthy. I don't know. It was so silly. Really. It's a goodie bag. I didn't even want the stuff in it, I just wanted to see what cute jokes people came up with for the bag. And there were some funny jokes. I know, because I did end up getting a goodie bag. It just all seemed so silly, you know? The day after there were apparently some little spats on the forums. Over goodie bags. Mind boggling. I'm going to TARCON6 for sure but am staying so very, very far from the goodie bag table. So far away.
Um, yeah. Okay. Now to bad moment number two. We get in and are told they have no room in the sit down bar area so we have to go to the overflow terrace area. Fine. It's a big crowd. They say we can order food 'to go' at the bar and will have no problems. I don't think they told the bar this. I went to get food for the three of us and it was madness. The bartender I got was really nice. He just seemed confused by it all at first. I don't think he knew LOTS of folks would be ordering to go for the terrace. And he also informed me that in order to get a veggie wrap (the only other vegetarian option but cheese sticks) I had to talk to a manager. Yeah, whatever. I got cheese sticks. And then waited forEVER for the food. It was a madhouse. My sweet bartender went all the way down to the kitchen to check on my food twice it was taking so long. Apparently they kept screwing up my order (two sandwiches and some cheese sticks). The worst of it was this AWFUL woman standing next to me at the bar. She was so loud from the moment she pulled up to the bar. Shrieking for the bartender, "Hey, barkeep, barkeep, I need food. I need to place an order to go!" This place was packed. He was at the other end of the bar serving people. It wasn't like he was standing around drinking and ignoring folks. He was just going to take a minute to get to her. But she was bellowing like nobody's business. And continued to do so after placing her order. She kept bellowing about where was her order and is that her order and why are other orders coming out before hers and blah blah blah I am an asshole... Then if anyone came up next to her and wanted to order she'd bellow at him again about THEIR order. I wanted to cry. She was so rude. So rude. And did not leave a tip. No one did in that corner except for me. Poor, poor bartender. He must've hated everyone that night.
Anyway, I finally got the food and made it back to my peeps for the start of the show. I pouted a little bit but quickly got over it. Well, quickly for me. Vader might disagree. And then I started to have some fun. A lot of the people there kind of scared me. For so many reasons. Reasons I will not mention for fear of insulting people more than I already have. But the episode was awesome and some of the folks were a lot of fun and it's just kind of interesting to watch a show you love with several other hundred folks who like it just as much.
After the finale the racers started coming in. I was amazed at how many folks showed up. As far as I can tell the folks there were:
Host
Phil!!! (didn't see)
Season 1
Brennan
Joe & Bill - Guidos
Kevin & Drew
Pat &/or Brenda (didn't see)
2
Oswald & Danny
3
Andrew
Derek & Drew
Flo & Zach
John Vito & Jill
Ken & Gerard
4
Jon & Al
5
Brandon & Nicole
Chip & Kim
Colin & Christie
Linda & Karen
Mirna
Other:
Wanda Sykes
Shii-ann - Survivor
Ken - Survivor
Mitchell - Survivor
I was sad about missing out on seeing Phil and have no idea why Wanda Sykes was there, but it was interesting seeing all the racers up close and personal. Lots of tiny people on this show. Dad and I should be able to squash them all easily. I hope. Vader and I aren't big celebrity whores so we didn't feel a huge need to take pictures with everyone. Also, we are awful with names and faces and weren't even sure who everyone was right away. So we sat and mocked quietly for a while. Which was great fun. Then we figured that we should go get seats at the bar while everyone was out in the entryway greeting racers. Good call on our parts. I had been awake and in the same clothes for over 30 hours, she was getting over the flu. Drinking was a good choice for us. Rather than, um, going home. It was. Really. The better choice. And we got a great view of all the racers as they came by. Which was nice.
At one point Andrew, a former cheerleader, came out and did a cheer/dance routine making fun of past and current contestants and all which was quite a sight to behold. I cannot describe it. I wish I could. He did end up without a shirt and "Phil" written on his chest. He looks pretty without a shirt. I might've asked for a picture if he hadn't put a shirt back on after the performance.
I had Ed's Shirt with me and I laid it out on the bar so I wouldn't forget to take it home with me once I was very drunk. Flo (one of the winners of Season 3) wandered up and said she went to school near there in Poughkeepsie. I asked if it was Vassar and of course it was. That's where she met her teammate and other winner, Zach. Heh. We chatted about Vassar for a bit and she sorta called me old (being class of '96 as opposed to '0something like she was) and then she asked me about Ed's Shirt. I explained it to her and asked if she wanted her photo with it. She did and made Zach come over so they could pose. For me being drunk the photo seems to have come out really well. Yay! And then I gave Zach one of Ed's Shirt's business cards. Hee. Muffy, a reality show contestant has a picture of your boobs in Ed's Shirt and a purple bra. How proud are you? Anyway, that was the only racer photo I got, I think. Ooooh, I got a butt shot of Team Cha cha cha at one point because they were right there while Vader and I snarked and it was too easy for me to take the shot. Towards the end Vader seemed bummed to have not chatted with Colin & Christie though so I think next time we'll sit at the bar a little less and torture racers a little more.
Anyway, it was good time and I am looking forward to next season. I've learned a few lessons such as eating ahead of time and avoiding the goodie bag table and tackling more racers. Plus I'll be bringing PimpDaddy and the folks. So it should be a blast.
I got home a little before 3AM though. Making Wednesday at work PAINFUL. And then Wednesday afternoon Turnip arrived for a New York minibreak. Woo. She actually was sweet and went out with other friends Wednesday, Thursday & Friday night giving me some quiet time. And instead of taking this chance to go to bed early those nights I just went wild with the clearing of TiVo and doing assorted home things. I don't know why. Turnip even tried making me go to bed before 2AM on Wednesday but I was too wired and having none of it. And while she was out with friends lots then, I still got to spend some quality time with her. Which is good.
Saturday we got up and had brunch with a friend of hers. Lovely guy. I think he thinks I'm a bit odd, though. Then she and I hurried to make the last three-hour full island circle line boat tour of the day. Turnip keeps coming to New York and doing lots of shows, bars, restaurants and friends but was complaining about not doing tourist things. So we're now going to do at least one a visit. The boat ride was a lot of fun. Good photos, fun times and excellent sightseeing. Woo. Then it was off to Don Giovanni's to meet another friend of hers from college. Lots of wine there and some excellent pasta. Then we walked to the Empire State Building for a nighttime viewing. I love the Empire State Building, actually. I hadn't been in a while and all, but I had a touch of the crowd hating while there. I think it was fatigue and all the crowds on the boat and the evil children on the boat. Just made me touchy. Which is too bad. It was still fun. Though there was a line for the elevators from the 80th floor to the top. So we took the stairs. OW! The pain, the pain. And the pushy tourists abounded up there. But Turnip got some pretty photos and we got to see the sights from up there. Then we wandered home exhausted. I showered and then we watched dr. vegas. Then Turnip showered and I crawled into bed. She had a 5:30AM car pick up for her flight and I was to stay up with her. But I napped a little and she read Fairy Porn and all was right with the world. She headed out to her car and I finally turned out the lights and really went to sleep. Woo. Until I had to get up for more fun.
Yesterday was the Atlantic Antic which is an enormous Brooklyn Street fair. I joined Muffy & Steph there about 2 and we caught the Cheesecake Eating Contest. Very amusing, but scary. Oddly enough, Zach, the racer from The Amazing Race Season 3 was there. The one who posed with the shirt. I saw him way back at the Survivor All-Stars finale, Tuesday at the TARCON event and then Sunday at the Antic. I think the boy is stalking me. Seriously. How else do you explain it? And you know who else is stalking me? Gabriel Byrne. Yeah. He is. Saw him Friday night walking home from the subway on Smith Street and then at the Antic yesterday. Stalker. He has pretty, pretty eyes...
I finally bailed on the Antic about 5:30 because I was so tired I couldn't see. And I figured I was about 15 minutes from ugly crankiness. Muffy & Steph did NOT need to see that.
And yet, after all this, I couldn't sleep last night. I want to cry. Tonight, I drug myself.
Seriously, the searches freak me out.
tapeworms that help you lose weight - I do not Advocate this.
dirty dancing Extras - Jennifer Grey screen test. Hee.
shreveport hookers - This time SHREVEPORT Hookers and not Barksdale Hookers. Is there really that little to do in Shreveport/Bossier these days?
Shreveport "Hamel's Park" - Apparently so.
shiny dancewear for kids performances - Hee. I've worn shiny dancewear as a kid.
"you got served" lyrics "south park" episode - An excellent episode.
Judy Blumes - Good stuff
hershey's swoops cupcakes - Oh my.
"Matt y" connecticut - Huh?
premade funnel cakes - They had funnel cakes at the Antic.
Siegfried and Roy's Black Panther - Dirty.
poekoelan feminist - I'm sure they were not pleased with my entry.
It boggles my mind.
No comments:
Post a Comment